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Shameless Plugs and Authentic Observations

Hi all. I would point out that it has been awhile since I have written but you know that already. I hope you have had a nice week celebrating the 4th of July, Canada Day or just the fact that you survived another week.

I have made it past my first month as the host of Talking Audiobooks. At the end of this month, it will be 3 months since I got involved with the project.

I am hardly the most experienced Podcast host though this isn’t my first show but I do have some humorous or interesting notes to share about my experiences so far.

I had a rough time recording the most recent show. I taped it on Sunday. I was working on it, had recorded a few segments and then I started playing what I had.
It was then I realized my preferences weren’t set properly and I had some really terrible audio quality. So everything I had recorded had to be junked and I got to start all over from the beginning!
If that wasn’t enough, I almost had a very funny but unfortunate typo. The last line of the show notes I wrote says ‘and did we mention female pirates?’ Well, I was typing that last word when r ealized that there was no V in pirates. I was typing female privates! We won’t comment on what that says about my frame of mind but thankfully I realized the mistake and fixed it before we had to change the podcast from clean to explicit content!

I am now more active on social media then I have been, probably ever. I have joined two different Facebook groups. There is Audiobook Addicts and Audiobook Lovers.
Both groups are different in some ways but similar in focus. If you love audiobooks or just really like them, both groups would be worth your time. Both have elements of fun and you won’t have to hang around either of them for too long to be offered free books!

Did I say free books? Yes, I did say free books. One thing I have learned, especially recently is that if you are willing to write honest reviews for sites like Audible or on your own blog, you can accumulate a lot of books in a hurry. I accepted two titles already this week. The Reaper’s Game by Layton Green, narrated by Peter Berkrot and Walt Before Mickey by Timothy S. Susanin, narrated by Al Kessel.
If you are willing to try new or self published authors, narrators or smaller publishers and can write reviews for Audible or yourself then join some of these Facebook groups and you’ll start to see offers for free books come your way.
I haven’t written many audible reviews, I typically post my reviews here but that may change. You can follow my reviews on Audible here.

Speaking of Facebook Groups, there is now a Talking Audiobooks group which is very new but we hope will be just as active as some of the others I’ve mentioned over time. I would encourage you to join that group and like our show page to stay informed with everything happening on the show.

In June, we gave one lucky winner 6 promo codes from Audible, good for any titles of his or her choosing. Say hi to Elena Alvarez Dosil who entered our contest and was named the winner! The link above will take you to her blog, you can say hi on twitter by clicking here. In July, we’re giving away 4 of those same promo codes good for anything of your choices and all you need to do is like our Facebook page to be entered.

Yesterday, I recorded my first interview as host of the show. As you may recall, I first appeared on the show back in December as a guest. Well, I have no conducted my first interview and it went very well. I am still more used to being interview subject than interviewer but I’m still happy with how it went.
This coming Friday, 7/14, you will hear that interview with Jess the Audiobook Worm. Jess comes on to talk about her history as an audiobook listener and also to go in depth on her work as owner of AudiobookWorm Promotions. Both Jess and I were nervous about the interview but it made my day when later that night she sent me a message via twitter thanking me for the experience.

The podcast is growing. I will not share specific numbers but I was floored earlier this week when I found out how well our July 4 theme episode was doing.
We are trying to make the podcast available in as many ways as we can. If you are a user of Stitcher or TuneIn, you can find our show. We’re on iTunes as well and that is just the tip of the iceberg as it were.
The truth of the matter is that I always say I’m not worried about stats. I figure if I do a good show then an audience will find us. But knowing that people are listening and the audience is growing does make me feel a lot better and it encourages me to keep trying to improve the show and myself.

The biggest takeaway from my experience thus far isn’t any of the things I mentioned abovewhile plugging the show. The audiobook community is really a fun community to be involved in. As I said, I joined Audiobook Addicts and Audiobook Lovers just a few days ago. But my experience with everyone in both groups has been fantastic. They’ve been supportive and complimentary of my work and I have gotten to know other listeners and their tastes well. I also think I have a better understanding of thingshappening in the industry than I did before thanks to the presence of authors and narrators. And that’s just after a week. As I get to know more people on an individual basis and as they get to know me better I think things can only get better.

What about my non-podcast life? Well, it is pretty stable at the moment. I’m hanging out with friends and family regularly nd I haven’t had a real bad depressive spell in quite some time. I mentionedthis to my producer earlier but saying that does make me a bit nervous. It makes me think I’m due for a bad spel .I credit working on the show for a lot of keeping me out of that depression that haunts me on such a regular basis. The fact that it is summer and not winter also helps.

I’m in as good a place as I have been in awhile. I still hate being single and long to find true lover. But other than that, I’m too busy to think about things I don’t have. When it comes to relationships, at least I have an idea of what I want out of one. All I really want is someone who is fun to hang out with, honest, intelligent and who is stable. Everything else is negotiable.

I subscribed to the Boomerang streaming service last week and that has been awesome so far. It has hurt my listening to a degree but it is a nice diversion. I’m hooping they keep adding classic content from Looney Toons but I also just have a lot of old favorites I want to see again. I’d even happily take some Johnny Bravo!

My plan to save money this year by switching all of my monthly subscriptions to annual is working the way I would have hoped. I’m finding myself with more money each month. Sometimes I have struggled to stick with the plan but just telling myself to stick with the plan has kept me on track. All should be settled by October!
One drag is that after subscribing to SiriusXM for a year back in May instead of month-to-month, my radio hasn’t been working. I may need a new radio. I can switch my subscription from one radio to another but the expense of a new radio hurts my yearly plan a bit.

That’s about all I have. I hope you have enjoyed this mix of shameless plugs and interesting tidbits from my life. Well, I think they’re interesting anyway. The list of blogs I follow has been qiet for quite some time and I’m sad about that. In particular, I would love an update from Porch Swing Writing and No Passing Fancy. Everyone be safe and have fun. Check out the podcast and share your feedback!